Greentraveller's Guide to Bestival
Revellers in a tent at BestivalBESTIVAL
When: September 9 - 12, 2010
Where: Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight, UK
2010 Headliners: Dizzee Rascal, The Flaming Lips and The Prodigy; alongside The xx, Fever Ray and Roxy Music
Interesting fact: Bestival is famous for its fancy dress themes (this year's theme is 'fantasy'), and in 2005 it set the Guinness World Record for the Biggest Fancy Dress Party - with over 10,000 people dressed as Cowboys and Indians.
HOW GREEN IS BESTIVAL?
- Bestival has an impressively comprehensive recycling scheme - aiming to recycle virtually everything, they provide three kinds of bins, including 'mixed recyclables', which is used to generate energy that powers many of the island's homes, through 'Advanced Conversion Technology'
- To help revellers' recycle, Bestival have teamed up with We Are What We Do to introduce Jacques le trash, "part-monster, part-frenchie food snob" who will be gobbling up all recyclable goods at the festival. Find out more about We Are What We Do here.
- Most of the festival's fuel is generated by local biofuel company, Wightmade, as well as wind and solar power sources
- From water to sweetcorn to staging, Bestival tries to source as much as possible from the Isle of Wight
- A dedicated top-hat-wearing 'Green Team' provide advice, free recycling bags, cigarette butt bins, and more
HOW TO GET THERE
Nearest train station: Portsmouth Harbour
By train: Portsmouth Harbour station is connected to the national rail network and close to the ferry terminal for the Isle of Wight. Book your train ticket to Portsmouth Harbour
By bus: The Isle of Wight's main coach company, Southern Vectis, runs services to Bestival from various locations across the UK, with tickets including the ferry crossing - book here. National Express also runs a dedicated service to the festival. Book here
By ferry: Both Wightlink (from Portsmouth) and Redfunnel (from Southampton) offer special ticket packages including their ferry services and festival tickets, or you can book the ferry tickets separately. Book Wightlink here or book Redfunnel here
Carsharing: If you're looking to hitch a ride or have some lonely seats to fill, consider Liftshare to Bestival. In 2008, people using Liftshare to get to Bestival saved 368,778 miles of car travel, 113 tonnes of CO2, 37,588 trees and £36,878 of their own money.
